Whip finishing implement

ABSTRACT

This invention provides an implement for facilitating and expediting the formation of a neat and secure whip knot at the eye or on the shank of a clamped fish hook. To this end the implement is made to include two parallel, rigid hooks secured in fixed, spaced relation to one another and to a carrying sleeve, and a handle member is provided in which the sleeve is free to rotate and to slide lengthwise. If the user is right handed, the end of the thread which has been used for wrapping lure material to the hook shank is held in the left hand, the hooks are engaged with the thread to form a closed loop and the implement is moved round and round the axis of the hook shank to wind the thread from the loop into a tight spiral winding which progressively covers and binds to the hook shank a portion of the thread end held in the left hand of the user, the spiral building up from left to right. When a sufficient winding (three to five turns or more) has been produced, the lower hook is detached from the thread and the held end of the thread which has been partially covered by the tight winding is pulled to draw tautly under the winding whatever is left of the loop. The thread held by the upper hook is then detached by a slight twist of the tool, while tension is maintained on the free end of the thread. Any surplus thread end is then cut off. It is not essential that the wound thread portion form a perfect helix as long as the several turns of overlying thread are drawn taut. By the same expedient of fabricating the tool with hooks facing 180* in the opposite direction such a tool can be adapted for left hand operation.

United States Patent [1 1 Zauskey 51 Apr. 15, 1975 WHIP FINISHINGIMPLEMENT [76] Inventor: Fredrick Thomas Zauskey, 2090 Lampman Rd., GoldHill, Oreg. 97525 [22] Filed: Sept. 20, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 399,133

[52] US. Cl. 289/17 [51] Int. Cl. D03j 3/00 [58] Field of Search289/l.5, l7, 18; 140/122 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,859,994 ll/l958 Whitlinger 289/l7 2,899,226 8/l959 Lint t. 289/17Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimrodt Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Clarence M.Crews [57] ABSTRACT This invention provides an implement forfacilitating and expediting the formation of a neat and secure whip knotat the eye or on the shank of a clamped fish hook. To this end theimplement is made to include two parallel, rigid hooks secured in fixed,spaced relation to one another and to a carrying sleeve, and a handlemember is provided in which the sleeve is free to rotate and to slidelengthwise. If the user is right handed, the end of the thread which hasbeen used for wrapping lure material to the hook shank is held in theleft hand, the hooks are engaged with the thread to form a closed loopand the implement is moved round and round the axis of the hook shank towind the thread from the loop into a tight spiral winding whichprogressively covers and binds to the hook shank a portion of the threadend held in the left hand of the user, the spiral building up from leftto right. When a sufficient winding (three to five turns or more) hasbeen produced, the lower hook is detached from the thread and the heldend of the thread which has been partially covered by the tight windingis pulled to draw tautly under the winding whatever is left of the loop.The thread held by the upper hook is then detached by a slight twist ofthe tool, while tension is maintained on the free end of the thread. Anysurplus thread end is then cut off. It is not essential that the woundthread portion form a perfect helix as long as the several turns ofoverlying thread are drawn taut. By the same expedient of fabricatingthe tool with hooks facing 180 in the opposite direction such a tool canbe adapted for left hand operation.

4 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures WI-IIP FINISHING IMPLEMENT This inventionrelates to an implement for producing a finishing whip knot on the shankor at the eye ofa fish hook, in thread which has been used for bindinglure or fly material onto said shank.

When one or more lure or fly elements have been tentatively secured onthe shank of a fish hook by wrapping thread around the lure or flymaterial and the hook shank, the problem is presented of finishing offthe job in a manner which will preclude diminuition of tension on thethread.

When the entire operation is manually executed, without the benefit ofany implement, the operation is slow and tedious and the operative islikely to close off the operation with a clumsy half-hitch which mayprove to be insecure.

Implements have been contrived for the purpose of facilitating andexpediting the operation of knotting the free end of the lure tyingthread, but these have proved unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons.Foremost among these are the following: (a) slowness and clumsiness ofoperation; (b) inability to apply enough tension to provide a tight,firm knot; and (c) lack of sufficient control necessary to put a neatwhip finish tie-off exactly where the operator wants it.

The primary object of the present invention is to prom, vide a novelwhip knot finishing implement in whicli 7 these difficulties areovercome.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my novel whip knot finishing implement;

FIG. 2 is a side view of my novel whip finishing tool showing hookconstruction detail;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the first step in the use of theimplement;

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation showing the initiation of a firstwinding turn;

FIGS. 5 to 10, inclusive, show successive steps involved in the windingof the thread;

FIG. 11 shows the thread fully wound and ready to be cut; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view showing an idealized finished knot at theeyc of a fish book after the surplus length at the free end of thethread has been cut away. No lure or fly material is shown in FIG. 12,nor are any of the thread wrappings preceding the whip knot shown.

The illustrative whip finishing implement 10 (FIG. 1) is designed foruse in conjunction with a conventional fly vise or other clamp 12 (FIG.3) in which a fish hook 14 is made fast for the purpose of firstapplying lure or fly material by means of a thread, followed by afinished whip knot 15 (FIG. 12).

The whip knot finishing implement comprises a rod 16 which is hollow,and two spaced, parallel, rigid hooks l8 and 20. The hook l8 desirablyhas a shank portion 19 which extends radially outward adjacent and at aright angle to the left end of the rod. The hook 20 includes a likeshank portion 21 at an appropriate distance outward from the rod end. Asseen in FIG. 2, the hooks l8 and 20 may desirably be integral vith oneanother. As shown, the hooks are substantia y semicircular in form, andeach has its open side faced always toward the axis of the rod or sleeve16. The hook 18 has a body portion 22 of substantial length which issecured in fixed position within the rod 16 for substantially its ownlength, and the hook 20 has a considerably longer body portion 24 thatnot only extends lengthwise within the rod 16 but projects for anappropriate distance beyond the end of the rod.

A handle member 26 (FIGS. 1 and 2), desirably of spherical form, ismounted on the rod 16 with freedom to rotate on its own axis and toshift lengthwise along the rod to accommodate any size hand.

A plug 28, composed of a head 30 and a shank 32, has its shank firmlyfitted into the end of the rod 16 remote from the hooks l8 and 20 forlimiting movement of the handle in one direction and thereby preventingdetachment of the handle.

A sleeve 34 desirably of soft, resilient rubber, surrounds the rod 16 atthe end adjacent the hook 18. The sleeve 34 limits movement of thehandle 26 toward the hook bearing end of the rod 16. It also serves as acontrol member for frictional engagement by a thumb and- /or finger ofthe user and for gripping of the rod during threading and unthreading ofthe hooks.

The manner in which the implement is used is illustrated in detail inthe drawing (FIGS. 3 to 10). Before the implement is brought into playthe fish hook 14 is secured firmly in the vise or clamp 12 with asubstantial portion, at least, of the hook shank, and with the hook eyeexposed as best seen in FIG. 4.

A length at the very end of the thread is first laid along the hookshank together with a lure or fly com ponent and the thread is wrappedfor a number of turns around the hook shank, the idle thread end and aportion of the lure component. As shown, a helix may be developed alongthe hook shank toward the eye. This is an idealized condition, however,there being no practical necessity for nicely providing a helicalwinding. This procedure may be repeated one or more times withadditional lure or fly components added. These are conventionalpreliminary details and in the interest of clarity they are not shown inthe drawing. In the end it becomes desirable to finish off the freethread end in a dependable form of knot.

When the thread is wrapped directly with the fingers ofthe right hand,it is common practice to conclude the operation with a half-hitch, whichmay or may not stand up, or a manually tied whip knot, which isdifficult to learn, is a much slower operation and is extremelydifficult to apply on small hooks.

With the aid of my implement the tying off may be effected moreconveniently, more rapidly and more securely than has been possible withhand tying or with the aid of implements heretofore devised. Myimplement functions efficiently on hooks down to size 22. The procedureis as follows:

After the wrapping of the thread 36 around such lure or fly material asis desired, the same thread is engaged by the hooks 18 and 20 of theimplement 10, held in the right hand, while the free end of the threadis held in the left hand, as seen in FIG. 3. The implement is thenshifted to the position shown in FIG. 4 with a first thread portion 36aextending from the shank of hook 14 to the hook 20, a second threadportion 36b extending from hook 20 to hook 18, a third thread portion36c extending from hook 18 across a point on the hook shank well removedfrom the eye, and a fourth or final portion 36c that extends beyond thehook shank and is held in the left hand of the user.

In FIG. 4 the portions 36a, 36b and 360 form a triangular loop ofcontrolled dimensions. The implement is held by the handle 26 in whichthe hollow rod 16 is free to turn. With the thread end 36d held firmlyin the left hand and the implement 10 pulled away from the fish hook 14,a triangular loop 36a, 36b, 36c is defined with the thread undertension. Since the rod is free to turn in the handle the hook shanks19,21 and the tensed triangular loop formed by segments 36a, 36b, 36cwill normally extend tangentially to the fish hook shank. This is animportant point because it prevents accidental detachment of the threadfrom the openmouthed hooks.

As the user moves the implement clockwise as viewed from the right, withthe thread under tension through the successive positions shown in FIGS.4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, thread from portion 36a feeds into a wrapping,desirably helical, which encircles the fish hook shank and the end ofportion 360 which lies adjacent to the fish hook shank. During thisoperation the thread is free to feed from 360 to 36b, from 3612 to 36a,and from 36a to the accumulating winding on the fish hook shank, so thatthe loop progressively diminishes in size.

When the winding has been effected to the desired extent the implementis swung to the position illustrated in FIG. 8 and the thread is putunder increased tension for tightening the winding and for straighteningthe length of thread over which the winding has been formed.

Finally, the thread is detached from hook 18, as seen in FIG. 9. At thatpoint thread portion 36a is pulled to draw the thread and hook downuntil hook 20 touches the fish hook (FIGS. 9 and 10). While maintainingtension on the free end of thread 36d, the tool is rotated on its ownaxis with thumb and forefinger, disengaging the attached thread fromhook 20. The thread end is thus drawn tautly beneath three to five, orperhaps more, tight turns of the thread, and the surplus length ofthread is then cut away as seen in FIGS.

U and 12.

l have described what I believe to be the best embodiment of myinvention. What I desire to cover by letters patent, however, is setforth in the attached claims. I I claim: 1. A whip knot finishingimplement, for usewith any fixed fly tying vise or clamp, comprising, incombination,

a. a straight rod, b. a pair of rigid, adequately spaced, essentiallyiden tical and parallel hook members, both unitary with claim 1 in whichthe rod is cylindrical in form, and 1 which further includes africtional sleeve that surrounds the rod in fixed relation thereto atthe end of the rod adjacent to the hooks, and forms a stop for limitingsliding movement of the handle.

3. A whip knot finishing implement as set forth in claim 2 in which therod is tubular in form and in which a plug is provided at the end remotefrom the hooks, said plug having an enlarged portion of sufficient sizeto provide a second limiting stop for the handle, thereby to preventaccidental separation of the handle from the rod.

4. A whip knot finishing implement as set forth in claim 1 in which thehook members are integrally united with one another to form a hook unit,and the hook unit includes a portion which is fixedly secured

1. A whip knot finishing implement, for use with any fixed fly tyingvise or clamp, comprising, in combination, a. a straight rod, b. a pairof rigid, adequately spaced, essentially identical and parallel hookmembers, both unitary with the rod and radially offset from the rod atone end thereof in fixed relation to one another, both of which hookmembers have their open mouth portions disposed in planes perpendicularto the rod, and unavoidably faced toward the axis of the rod at alltimes, and c. a handle member surrounding said rod in freely rotatablerelation thereto.
 2. A whip knot finishing implement as set forth inclaim 1 in which the rod is cylindrical in form, and which furtherincludes a frictional sleeve that surrounds the rod in fixed relationthereto at the end of the rod adjacent to the hooks, and forms a stopfor limiting sliding movement of the handle.
 3. A whip knot finishingimplement as set forth in claim 2 in which the rod is tubular in formand in which a plug is provided at the end remote from the hooks, saidplug having an enlarged portion of sufficient size to provide a secondlimiting stop for the handle, thereby to prevent accidental separationof the handle from the rod.
 4. A whip knot finishing implement as setforth in claim 1 in which the hook members are integrally united withone another to form a hook unit, and the hook unit includes a portionwhich is fixedly secured within an end of the rod.